The period when maternity leave ends and you are going back to work is usually filled with a lot of anxiety. You’ve been home with baby all this time, you were probably personally in charge of everything in the life of your child, from feeding to play time. And now you have to relinquish some of that control to someone else, perhaps a nanny, because you will be at work for most of the day.

Many mothers are filled with What Ifs. What if the house help forgets to feed the baby? What if my sister drops the baby? What if the baby is kidnapped? What if by leaving the baby I’m unknowingly affecting their emotional development? What about breastfeeding?The fears range from the irrational to the most sensible. Some women feel guilty for leaving their baby and going back to work. Others feel guilty for being eager to go back to their jobs. Many can barely concentrate at work and end up calling home to check on things every hour. It’s easy during that period to visualize the worst things that can happen and make the experience far more stressful than it must be. Thankfully, there are ways to counter this and help yourself adjust to being away from your baby. [Read more…]